ski

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. One of a pair of long flat runners of plastic, metal, or wood that curve upward in front and may be attached to a boot for gliding or traveling over snow.

n. A water ski.

n. Something that is used as a runner on a vehicle: a helicopter with skis for landing on snow and ice.

intransitive v. To travel or glide on skis, especially as a sport.

transitive v. To travel or glide over on skis: ski a mountain slope.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. One of a pair of long flat runners designed for gliding over snow.

v. To move on skis.

v. To travel over (a slope etc.) on skis; travel on skis at (a place), especially as a sport.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. A long, flat, narrow runner made of wood, plastic or metal, curved upwards in front, having a fitting allowing it to be attached to the foot, and used for gliding or sliding over snow. Commonly used in the plural, to designate the pair.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used in pairs for gliding over snow

Etymologies

Norwegian, from Old Norse skīdh, stick, snowshoe; see skei- in Indo-European roots.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

From Norwegian ski, related to Old Norse skið ("stick of wood, snowshoe"), from Proto-Germanic *skid- (“to divide, split”), from Proto-Indo-European root *skei- (“to cut, split”) (see also shed). Cognate with Old English scid ("stick of wood") (obsolete English shide), Old High German skit (Modern German Scheit ("log")). (Wiktionary)

Examples

We use the term ski mask, which may not be poetic but does at least have the virtue of clarity.